Coulton farming: Best of technology and machinery paying off

A STRONG focus on technology stands optimistic young farmer Will Coulton out from the crowd.

Field work: Will Coulton is making his mark, farming with his wife and parents on 14,170 hectares at Boggabilla and North Star in NSW.

A STRONG focus on technology stands optimistic young farmer Will Coulton out from the crowd.

The 31-year-old, who, with wife Trudi and parents Ben and Prue, runs Coulton Farming across 14,170 hectares at Boggabilla and North Star in northern NSW, is making his mark using only the best in machinery, crop varieties and infrastructure to increase productivity and reduce costs.

The Coultons run about 6070 hectares of winter crops, including chick peas, wheat and barley, and 2024 hectares of summer crop, consisting of cotton and sorghum, alongside about 600 Angus cows.

They employ about 10 full-time staff, and rely on contractors for cotton picking, allowing them to concentrate on the finer details.

Will said while the latest technology in agriculture could prove expensive, it was the way forward for farmers.

“In agriculture you have to keep up with technology to keep ahead,” Will said. “Technology is a tremendous thing, it offers so many benefits and cost savings and has many undiscovered applications.”

Will’s arsenal of machinery and gadgets includes a chemical sprayer with a camera to detect weeds and then spot spray them, which he said resulted in a cost saving of 90-95 per cent. He uses a drone to fly over cotton fields to create thermal imagery crop density maps to improve fertiliser application.

“In today’s technological environment, we can’t have any areas that aren’t producing,” Will said. “This kind of technology means we can get an area up to at least average.”

Moisture probes with leaf temperature sensors are used in the cotton crops and the Coultons carry out trials to determine the best rotations for reducing disease.

Will said last year’s summer crops had a “good growing season” with the cotton yielding an impressive 13.6 bales (or 3.09 tonnes) per hectare, and he is optimistic about the future of agriculture.

“There is no easy money, everything is a calculated risk so it can carry itself, but technology is making it easier,” he said.

Easier, and more financially rewarding.